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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. cue — a hint
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cap — a hat
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bear — the animal
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cap — a lid

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com